Title: Two of a Kind.
Disclaimer: I own nothing already owned by J.K. Rowling, although we all want to be the owners of that magnificent piece of work.
Chapter 13: Samhain Ball part 3.
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Lily walked into a room full of chaos as hair spells, make-up containers, dress robes and a million other things were rushed around her dormitory in preparation for the ball. Conversation was limited, as the girls were all nervous and aware that they only had 5 hours until the big Samhain Ball commenced.
"Lily, where have you been?" Holly asked as she pushed Lily towards a mirror. "We have so many things to do. Why, may I ask, are you not in your dress robes yet? Do you not realise its only a few hours until the Ball starts? I can't believe you've left it this late to get ready. You of all people should know it takes forever to get ready for a ball…wait a minute, what am I talking about? You don't even care that much about out of school activities."
"Holly, slow down. I'll have you know I put a lot of work into this Ball, it was my idea. James and I transfigured so many things in preparation and I've just been walking around to clear my head of spells. And besides, I'd rather get ready the muggle way, no magic involved. And before you start telling me how much time I'm going to waste, I don't care!" Lily rushed so as to be heard.
"Lily, how can you say that?" Holly asked bewildered.
"You of all people should know I don't care about my looks…much, and it's not like many people are going to notice anyways. There is no competition for best-dressed person, at least not that I've heard of." Lily answered.
"No I don't mean about 'that', we'll discuss that later. Magic's your life now. You can't keep turning back to your original ways. These are the sorts of spells you'll need to know. What if you go to some important business meeting and realise your hair is a right royal mess, what are you going to do then, huh?" Holly proceeded to tell Lily about the importance of styling magic.
Lily just rolled her eyes and pushed Holly's voice and her 'words of wisdom' out of her head.
'There are more important things to think about,' Lily told herself. 'Like how you're going to stuff up your first real date with someone you've liked since you were…I don't know…six?' Lily scowled at herself in the mirror, exaggerating her words a little.
"Don't you pull that face at me." Holly warned her in a tone that told Lily she better start paying attention otherwise she might be 'big trouble'.
"Fine, do my hair, fix my make-up. Will that make you happy?" Lily asked, trying hard to keep her voice at a civil level.
"Sure will." Holly answered. The change of tone was noticed instantly. "Now how do you want your hair?"
For the next 4 hours, the girls continued to prepare each other for the Ball.
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The boy's dormitory was the exact opposite of the girl's. They were calm and resting. None of them were planning to get ready until minutes before the ball, at least that's what the majority of them thought.
"Sirius, what are you doing?" Remus asked from where he was seated on his bed.
"I'm getting dressed. I have to do my hair and make-up. Don't you know anything about getting ready for a ball? Don't worry, Holly informed me quickly, I'm sure we'll be able to do something about you guys." Sirius replied. He was standing in front of the mirror holding his dress robes up to his body and twisting and turning to get a better look at himself at different angles.
"Well, Holly would know all about getting ready. And we'd be glad to participate in anything you want us to do." James told Sirius, who was looking at James in a way that said 'Really, you would.'
"Except…" James started
"There's always an Except." Sirius said sulkily
"There's one little itty bitty problem." James exaggerated. "We are guys. Guys don't apply make-up to go to Balls. Girls do that to make themselves look nicer."
"I guess so." Sirius said sadly. "So what do you think Lily is going to do to herself?"
James was taken aback by this sudden change of attitude towards the topic of make-up and readying oneself.
"Well…um-?" James thought aloud. He really hadn't imagined what Lily would do to herself, he was just happy to be going with someone he had liked for so long. "I truly have no idea. But no matter what she does to herself, she'll look great"
"Even if Lily covered her face in mud?" Asked Peter, becoming interested in the conversation.
"Or, if she decided to come as a slut, and embarrass you the whole night?" Sirius asked
"Sirius why would she-Wait, what if she does do something absolutely horrible?" Remus asked. "Hey wouldn't it be funny she dressed up as a muggle, a very poor muggle and tried to ruin the whole ball?"
"Remus, I'm quite upset with you!" James said outraged. "I expect this kind of behaviour from Sirius and Peter, but you? You're supposed to say 'That would never happen. Lily's not the type of person to do something like that, not to James'."
"Sorry mate, I kinda got carried away." Remus said looking down. "But you have to admit it would be funny."
"Even so, you're the reasonable one. If you go crazy like the rest of them, then saving us would be up to me and then we'd all be doomed." James replied.
"Oh Remus," Sirius cried, falling to the floor and grabbing hold of his leg. "Don't ever go crazy again! Don't leave us in the hands of James!"
"Now that that's settled I'll be down in the common room. Come and get me when it's close to ball time." James smiled at the rest of them and wandered downstairs.
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Lily looked at herself in the mirror. The 'Final Product', as Holly had called it, had hardly changed how she looked without the make-up.
'Maybe the whole four hour process was just to intensify my eye colour?' Lily wondered straining for a better look at her eyes. 'Now my only problem will be putting on my dress robes without messing up my make-up…and hair.'
She got up and went to find her dress robes. As Lily rummaged through her trunk she overheard Alaina and Sharise talking about their dates for the ball.
"I still can't believe Amos waited until today to ask you to the ball" Sharise told Alaina as she pulled her hair up and looked at herself in the mirror.
"Well I had to say yes, didn't I? Even if James still hasn't got a date I couldn't turn up by myself, I have to still look wanted. Amos isn't 'all that', but he'll do for the moment. Maybe I can get a good snog out of tonight, not like it would make a difference. James Potter is my one and only, and I'm going to do everything in my 'Zola', pureblood power to get him. I don't care if I have to go through every guy in Hogwarts to make that clear." Alaina replied spraying an all-night perfume on and walking down stairs.
As they left Lily thought she heard Sharise admit to admiring Alaina's determination.
'What a load of twaddle!' Lily thought as she found her dress robes, changed into them and walked downstairs.
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When Lily walked down the stairs and into the common room James' heart skipped a beat. He wasn't sure of the reason. It could have been the green dress robes she was wearing that accentuated her eyes; the way she had put slight curls in her hair that made her face look angelic; or was it the fact that she had put make-up on? Either way James thought she looked-
"Beautiful." He whispered to her when she asked him.
"You're just saying that because you don't wish to be slapped." Lily replied.
"How did you uncover my secret?" James joked with her. "If you didn't want the truth you shouldn't have asked."
Lily had nothing to say to this. She just smiled at James and looked down. She was still having trouble looking at him because the past day had felt like a dream, an unbelievingly long dream, and Lily was afraid that if she looked at James too long he would fade away.
"Come on," James urged taking Lily's hand and leading her towards the portrait hole. "I want to see everyone's faces when they walk into the Great Hall and see all the great work we did together."
"You mean all the great work you did, due to the fact that I can't transfigure a porcupine into a pin cushion." Lily answered as James helped her out of the Gryffindor entrance.
As Lily walked towards the stairs she tripped on her dress robes and fell towards the floor, but she didn't hit anything. Hair covered her face so she assumed James had come to her rescue but as she looked up she was surprised to find that Amos Diggory had caught her.
'I don't even remember seeing anyone in the corridor.' Lily thought to herself as Amos helped her to her feet.
"Diggory" James nodded in his direction, walking towards them.
"Potter," He replied, and then turned to Lily. "Are you alright?"
Lily noticed the emotion in his eyes before his concern in his voice. She had seen this only twice before: in her mother's eyes after she'd received her Hogwarts letter; and in James' eyes whenever he looked at her alone.
He looked at her with Love in his eyes.
Lily was slightly scared. It wasn't as if she was the prettiest girl at school. In fact she was still having trouble believing that James fell for her, eve though she quite like that happening. But for someone else to be attracted to her, and at the same time as James, was freaking her out.
James noticed Lily's change in posture and moved closer to her. Lily stepped backwards until she collided with James, who held onto her for comfort, causing Lily to flinch.
"Lily, are you alright?" Amos asked again.
"Yes, fine. I'm fine." Lily rushed. "Nothing wrong with me…I just tripped. But-um, we have to go. Right James? Thanks-um…see you next Prefect meeting." Lily grabbed James' hand and started power walking towards the stairs again.
"What was that back there?" James asked once they were out of earshot. He seemed angry at her. "You went all tense and seemed unable to speak to Diggory. He was just trying to help."
"You mean you didn't see it?" Lily asked turning around to face him. "You didn't see his eyes?"
"Stop changing the subject!" James stated strongly. He paused for a second before answering. "There was something wrong with his eyes?"
"They looked like yours." Lily answered and when James still looked confused she continued. "Well, not like yours exactly, but they had the same emotion that are in your eyes when you look at me, and not just a glance or something, when you really look at me." She paused and looked down. When she thought she had composed her self enough to continue talking she looked at him again. "I was…I-" She looked away again, unable to admit that she feared something might come between her and James.
James caught on to what she was thinking.
"Lils, not even if a hundred guys looked at you the way I do would I ever stop loving you." He lent down and kissed her softly and slowly sending shivers down Lily's spine. "Come on, we have a ball to attend."
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Somewhere down the corridor Amos Diggory stormed away to meet his 'date'. Unlike the couple he had just left, his love did not extend very far. Sure Alaina was a nice, sexy girl, but his plans with her weren't forever.
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As the Great Hall doors opened awe was placed upon many faces. The Hall was set up in the traditional Orange and Black colours, yet the whole room seemed to have the appearance of a muggle school dance. Tables and chairs had been set up in little sections around the hall and were lit up by the traditional candle filled pumpkins. Only, instead of floating them above the tables, like the candles were normally placed in the Great Hall, these pumpkins were placed neatly in the centre of the tables, keeping to the muggle theme of the Ball. Paper Streamers were hung around the sides of the Hall and little bits of confetti were scattered all over the floor and tables in colours of orange or black and in the shape of: witches; wizards; pumpkins; bats; black cats; and full moons, although the latter just appeared to be round circles.
Lily looked around her. Many of the students from a muggle background were amazed at how well the Hall resembled a place of their past. But Lily was surprised by how many pureblood students admired Her and James' work at turning the place into the opposite of their world. It made Lily feel warm inside and for one of the only time since she'd come to Hogwarts did she miss what was once her home. It also made her forget the episode she had just had with Amos Diggory.
Holly ran up to Lily and James with the widest smile on her face. "You guys did the best job here. Look at the place…it's amazing. How'd you remember so much stuff from the muggle world Lily?"
"I guess it's because my sister drilled it into my brain. But I didn't want it to resemble a fake magical place too much...that's what the confetti's for." She replied bending down and picking up a handful of colour bits of paper and throwing it at Holly, who screamed slightly and ran away to find Sirius who was looking for a table for everyone.
"Let's go find the rest of the gang." James said to Lily, taking her hand once more and following the direction Holly ran off to.
Wandering through the crowd of people Lily noticed that she was not the only one who threw confetti at friends. Many of the younger students were having paper fights, although the paper didn't travel very far so they were confined to short distance fights. Lily chuckled at this and continued to look around.
James was leading the way and was having trouble pushing through the crowd with one hand. "Follow me." He called back to Lily and let go of her hand to move though the students. Lily heard him yell out to her but lost sight of him almost immediately.
'Great, just great.' she thought and moved in the direction she thought James was going. She soon found herself in a clear space and realised she'd lost all sight of anyone she knew. She started scanning the area looking for an opening. The crowd started to disappear. Lily noticed two people walking towards her, Amos Diggory and Alaina Zola.
They stopped in front of Lily and smiled respectively.
"Amos dear, could you go find us a table, a have a few things I have to say to Lily. We have so much catching up to do, what with her taking charge of so many Prefect duties; we haven't had time to do all the girly things we usually do." Alaina said sweetly to Amos.
Lily and Amos both looked puzzled, but for different reasons. Amos wasn't sure why Alaina had to take up their time together to have some girly chit-chat, and in the middle of a Ball. Lily on the other hand was wondering what Alaina wanted due to the fact that they hardly ever took the time to talk to each other and especially not since Lily started going out with James. It was a known fact that Alaina wanted nothing else except James…well Lily wasn't giving him up without a fight.
"Well?" Lily asked patiently once Amos had walked away from them. She didn't want to spend any more time with Alaina then she had to.
"What's the rush Lily? Lover Boy gonna miss you? Don't count on it." Alaina replied jeering.
Lily sighed, she was going to be here for a while. She desperately hoped one of her friends would notice she was gone and come searching for her, but she doubted they would find her in time.
"So, dear little Lily is growing up. She's throwing Balls, and has men striving after her. It's almost enough to make me sick." She spat at Lily. "Don't count on having a good time tonight, I don't plan to let you."
Just then Amos decided to find out if his date had finished spending time with Lily.
"Have a wonderful time tonight Lily," Alaina faked excitement. "We're going to dance all night and party until dawn. Right Amos dear? Don't forget what I said Lils dear, I meant it." She added a little more forcefully than intended.
'Don't count on having a good time….yeah right' Lily said to herself as she walked as far as she could from Amos and Alaina. 'I'll just avoid her for the rest of the night'
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The dancing soon commenced. Lily sat for a while watching all the happy couples twirling around with each other. She had refused James' offer to dance with him the first two times, she just couldn't get Alaina's words out of her head. "Don't expect of have a good time…".
"Lils, are you sure you don't want to dance, you've been waiting for so long for this night, why wait any longer?" James asked leaning over the table and picking up her hand.
Lily thought about it for a while. 'I either try and forget about what Alaina said and have some fun tonight, or I sit here wondering what she could possibly do to me.' She looked at James, then down at their hands, and back to James. She could tell he wanted to go crazy on the dance floor, just like Sirius was doing with Holly.
"Ok." Lily finally answered. 'What could possibly go wrong?'
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After an hour of dancing Lily had forgotten about Alaina's comment and was enjoying being spun around by James, although her feet were getting sore.
The song playing ended; the dancers clapped, even though it was a muggle music record being played; and Dumbledore stood up to make a speech, as usual. The couples returned to their seats and the talking stopped as everyone listened intently to what Dumbledore was about to say.
"Well," He began looking around the Great Hall. "Another Halloween comes and another wonderful ball has been held. I only have a few things to say: Firstly, I'd like to thank the Prefects for doing an excellent job on creating this muggle setting and playing muggle music, with a little help from our muggleborn witches and wizards. Secondly, I'd like everyone to behave, no food fights Mr Black. And last, but not least, Have fun. Enjoy your night students." He sat down at his table again.
The music started and the group looked at each other.
"I can't believe it." Holly breathed talking in the surroundings again.
"Neither can I," Said Sirius for totally different reasons. "No food fights, what kind of ball is this?"
"One that wants a clean ending, Sirius." Remus answered.
"Yeah, well I can't be held responsible for my actions." Sirius stated strongly, the others just laughed.
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Alaina watched as Lily twirled around the dance floor again. 'That's the19th dance they've been through. Why won't they twirl around here, she'll gets what's coming to her.'
Sharise and Larissa walked over to Alaina after they noticed her forehead growing wrinkles.
"Alaina, if you don't stop pouting your face will end up staying that way." Sharise stated. Larissa laughed and leant her head against Sharise's shoulder.
"Either that or someone will hex it that way." Larissa managed to say through laughs.
"Are you two drunk?" Alaina spat at them, a disgusted look on her face. Despite all of her evil ways Alaina hated those who got themselves overly drunk for no reason.
"No." They sung back at her.
Alaina's temper reached its limits. She didn't mean to go this over the top but when she's mad, she has to take it out on someone.
"Oh, ha ha, very funny…very original, my face will get stuck that way. And do you remember our deal girls? Once I get James, Remus and Sirius will be like putty in my hands, and will be yours for the taking. So don't you dare start joking to me about what I do to get my way, 'coz without me you guys would not exist. I am your popularity and don't you forget that. If I can get you to a higher position I can take it away too. And don't you ever come up to me when you're drunk again, you make me look bad just being with you. Understand?" Alaina answered forcefully, standing up for greater effect. "Now Evaporate!" She turned around and walked towards Amos, determined to do something to change Lily's fortune with James.
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"Dance towards Lily and James." Alaina demanded of Amos as they weaved around the other dancers.
"I don't think so," Amos replied. "Lily isn't exactly talking to me anymore, we had an odd run in earlier and I'd rather not say anything to her, or be around her that much. At least not until this has blown over.
"You'll dance us over there right now or else you'll be left alone at this lame muggle ball and no-one will think you're cool anymore. So Dance!" She demanded once more.
Amos did as he was told. As much as avoiding Lily seemed like a good idea to him, he realised that being seen with Alaina was worth so much more than that.
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"James, I'm getting really dizzy here, is it not better to rest now, in-between songs, than to become sick by not?" Lily asked while James spun her in another circle. She was beginning to lose all manner of direction.
"Don't worry," James replied. "I won't let you fall, well not very far. I'll catch you, I've got good reflexes, remember?"
Lily froze. Those words were not exactly the words of comfort she wanted to hear. She looked up into his eyes to see the marauder gleam that appeared after any prank minor or major.
"You're joking right?" She asked sternly. "James, that's not what I wanted to hear, 'I won't let you fall far.' What kind of hope do I have of you catching me now?" she slapped him on the arm for effect, knowing that any form of violence coming from her couldn't possibly hurt him as he'd been hit one too many times by bludgers in his quidditch years to notice a slight tap from some girl.
"James," Said a voice from behind Lily. "You look great on the dance floor, you'll have to teach me how you got that good sometime."
Lily recognised the voice and felt the anger rise up inside her like steam rising from a kettle.
"Alaina, don't you have somewhere else to be, or could you not torment someone else tonight?" Lily snapped turning around to face her.
"Lils, it's alright." James said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Al, I'll try and remember who taught me, maybe they can teach you too."
"Alright? It's not alright." Lily said through clenched jaws, all memory of her past conversations with Alaina returning. "She's nothing but trouble, and by giving her a reason to stay around you're only giving her a future opening to ruin our lives."
"Lily, I think you're over-reacting." James said looking confused. "Is there something you're not telling me about this situation?"
"James she's bad news and the sooner we get away from her the better." Lily replied.
"She's not that bad," James said sticking up for her. "She's only ever performed a few harmless pranks to get closer to me and the boys, and what can I say, who wouldn't want to get closer to me?" he paused for a few seconds. "Besides, anything she's done isn't half as bad as what we marauders have done! Are you saying we're bad new too?"
"I've always thought you guys were bad news, you just have a way of doing your pranks to the extent that the only thing hurt was someone's pride. Any actual injuries were from the people involved hexing someone else because that's who they believed did it. How many times have Alaina and her followers' pranks resulted in multiple people being sent off to the hospital wing?" Lily shot back. "How can you keep standing up for her?"
"How can I keep standing up for her? Well I don't know maybe it's because she's the only girl in this school who actually finds pranks, and quality pranks like what we do, enjoyable. She understands the rush you get after just completing something that satisfying." He answered back.
"Maybe that's because the rest of the female population doesn't think that you'll actually enjoy a female who can out prank you like she does. Or, maybe it's because the rest of us believe that these 'stupid' pranks you guys come up with are just that. Stupid and childish and not as funny as you really believe they are"
As their fight continued a crowd started to form around them. Luckily the music was still loud enough to drone out any unwanted words spat out between them.
Alaina yawned, this argument was annoying her. As much as it was doing all her work for her, it still didn't get Lily out of the way. 'Time for some inside help.' She sneered as her wand slipped out of her pocket and into her hands.
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"Oh no." Holly whispered as she looked towards the crowd drawing around Lily and James.
"Oh no, what Babe?" Sirius asked looking in the same direction. He swore to himself and raced over to the crowd. "Excuse me, coming through, move it!" he yelled trying to get to the centre of the group.
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Alaina muttered something under her breath and a bright yellow light flashed towards Lily's legs. Just as James had turned around.
"So I still don't see…" He turned around and noticed Lily wasn't standing in front of him, in fact she wasn't standing anymore at all.
Lying on the floor with one foot twisted out of shape was Lily. No-one had seen what happened but they could see the result. Scratches covered her body as though some animal had cased her through some prickly bush. Her face was red with pain and she was taking short gasping breaths to try and keep breathing. Slow tears started to run down her face as the pain and rejected feelings from James finally ripped through her pride to be the last person speaking.
Holly and Sirius finally made it through the crowd to see James standing stunned over Lily, and the result of the fight.
"Lils," Holly rushed over to her. "Come on. Let's get you to the hospital wing."
She helped Lily to stand on the foot that was not dislocated and waited for a few seconds so Lily could catch her breath. The effort was straining.
Sirius stood by James, questions running through his head. He looked over at Lily, not believing that James could have done this, but the evidence he found didn't point anywhere else.
"Sirius, you have to believe me when I say I didn't do this." James started, he looked genuinely worried, as though he wasn't too sure what was going on either.
"Don't worry mate, we'll figure this our soon." Sirius replied patting him on the shoulder.
"Sirius, can you help me get Lily to the hospital wing?" Holly asked.
Sirius jogged over to them and put one of Lily's arms around his neck, he out his arms on her back and under her knees being careful for where the foot twisted and hoisted her off the ground. She leant her head on his shoulder and whispered to him.
"He was supposed to catch me."
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Ok so that's the end of this chapter and I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while I've had a major case of writers block and I'm hoping it's almost over…but I should be writing more soon fingers crossed.
So review and tell me what you thought of it.